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Friday, June 27, 2014

Ed reflects on PSE 2014

If you get our monthly newsletter or follow us on Twitter, you probably already know that earlier this week we picked up camp and headed to Atlantic City for this year's Police Security Expo. We had a good time meeting some of our current and future customers and reacquainting with old friends from expos past. Since I'd never gambled in any formal sense, Bob took me to a blackjack table. The dealer did this neato card trick where he made 45 of my dollars disappear in under a minute. But now I'm getting sidetracked.

Our awesome pens were very popular.

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday at our booth in the convention center, where we divided our time between talking with law enforcement officers, handing out Jolly Ranchers and awesome pens, and watching the guy in the booth across from us drift off to sleep as the day wore on. Every now and then, though, I'd find occasion to wander around. What had once been a huge, empty room now held a temporary city populated by vendors of every stripe. Armored police cars sat on soft carpet while disembodied light bars flashed endlessly. Nearby, the Optical Academy gave on-site eye exams, no doubt a useful service in a world of pepper spray and super-bright tactical flashlights.

Walking through the corridors, I fought an uphill battle against sensory overload. With all the body armor, high-tech gadgets and tactical everything, the modern police officer is basically Batman without the cape and goofy S&M mask. Out of all the impressive displays, several stood out for me. My favorites weren't, by and large, the big-budget set-ups with jumbotrons, laser light shows and fog machines (OK, I might be exaggerating a little). In my mind, the stars of the show were, more often than not, modest booths with unique, exciting products. Some of my favorites include a facility where civilians can get Special Ops training, a ruggedized rubber keyboard that feels better than the standard one I'm using now, and a brilliantly simple solution to a common problem. I'll be writing articles about these and more over the coming days. Stay tuned.